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In a major transatlantic deal, express delivery giant Federal Express has made an offer to acquire Netherlands-based rival TNT Express N.V. for a reported $4.8 billion.

Both companies have said they anticipate the offer will close in the first half of calendar year 2016 and that “anti-trust concerns, if any, can be addressed adequately in a timely fashion.”

According to a joint statement, the deal will “transform FedEx’s European capabilities and accelerate global growth,” which will give both companies’ customers “access to an enhanced, integrated global network, combining TNT Express’ strong European capabilities and FedEx’s strength in other regions globally, including North America and Asia.”

Both Memphis, Tennessee-headquartered FedEx and TNT have agreed to certain non-financial covenants including the retention of TNT employees and the divestment of TNT Express’ airline operations “in compliance with applicable airline ownership regulations.” The European regional headquarters of the combined companies will be in Hoofddorp, according to the statement, while the TNT Express hub in Liege will continue to serve “as a significant operation for the group going forward.”

The deal comes two years after rival United Parcel Service abandoned its own $5.6 billion takeover bid for the Dutch company, citing objections by European Commission regulators worried about the combined company becoming too dominant in the EU market.

TNT Express CEO Tex Gunning said that, while his company did not solicit the takeover bid, “we truly believe that FedEx’s proposal, both from a financial and a non-financial view, is good news for all stakeholders.”

FedEx has made recent, smaller acquisitions over the past year. In January, it closed the $1.4 billion purchase of Ontario, California-based GENCO Distribution Systems, which handles product returns. Last year, FedEx acquired Bongo International, a developer of cross-border e-commerce software, as well as the Supaswift package delivery operations in South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia.